An Egyptian mummy known as M1 is being studied at the National Archaeology Museum of Lisbon in Portugal. The 2,250-year-old male is thought to have have been between 51 and 60 years old when he died a slow, painful death from cancer.

Several post-mortem fractures, possibly produced by mishandling when the mummy was transported to Europe, afflicted the body.

But that wasn't all they found. A pattern of round and dense tumors, measuring between 0.03 and 0.59 inches, interspersed M1's pelvis and lumbar spine.

"The bone lesions were considered very suggestive of metastatic prostate cancer," wrote the researchers.

Indeed, prostatic carcinoma typically spreads to the pelvic region, the lumbar spine, the upper arm and leg bones, the ribs, ultimately reaching most of the skeleton.

Prates and colleagues considered other diseases as alternatives. But M1's sex, age, the distribution pattern of the lesions, their shape and density, strongly argued for prostate cancer.

Only one older case of prostate cancer has ever been found, in a 2,700-year-old skeleton from Siberia. Read more at Discovery News. Link -via Breakfast Links